make way for the tortoise

I think the only members slower than me are the ones who haven't started their socks yet :) But, I did finish my first contrast colour tier today.

Am I exhausted.

Maybe that gentleman on the bus who mentioned sock crank machines was hinting .... Entrelac by machine? Sounds a little bit crazy to me. ***CV

One More Tier Before the Heel

I have heard horror stories about the heel. Any advice?

almost done

it's a good thing I have short legs...that's all I can say

One Entrelac Sock finished. But not to the pattern specs (shorter and no tassles). I didn't feel like adding in extra increases to accommodate for my large calves, so I stopped at 4 CC tiers after the heel for a regular length sock. I cast on for sock #2 this morning.

Chittavrtti's Yarn

I took a picture of chittavrtti's yarn while we were out on Saturday. It is so beautiful and soft and it's got that sort of spiral spin to it. Anyway, she's got beautiful colors, so I figured I'd post them for her!!

A Big Change

So I knitted in the 9th and 10th CC tiers (plus the MC's that went along with them) as 8 stitch tiers and the sock fit, but it's a real pain in the ass. Getting it on is okay, except for the part where I've got to get it over my ankle, but getting it off is a major bummer. I have to tug on the heel a bit, and then tug on the foot portion and then the heel again and then the ankle part, etc...until I slowly loosen it bit by bit so that I can get it off my foot. There is no 'give' to it at all, and it's so tight on my calf, even with the 8 stitch tiers that I worry that the fibers are going to break down really soon.

I went with chittavrtti to a coffee shop this weekend and worked on the sock some more. She suggested that I try and knit another one, either using size 2's for the whole thing, or switching to them after I got to the ankle. I decided that she was one smart cookie, so I'd give it a try. I started another sock on 2's. I got to the 2nd CC tier and just got totally bummed. The knitting up to that point was sligtly see-through and it still didn't seem to have very much give to it. I tried it on over my toe and it just seemed kind of loose.So, I started thinking that I just wished that there was some elastic in my yarn. That would solve all of my problems. I was getting gauge on this sock, but that didn't seem to be enough for this pattern for some reason. Just like brainymom said, different yarns seem to have different pliability, and it seems as if the vintage yarn I was using had super sucky pliability. I decided to give up on the socks for a bit yesterday and think about it and we went out to lunch. During lunch I decided that it would only cost me 10 bucks to go to the yarn store and get some Cascade Fixation and give it a shot. I didn't think that it would work, but my babe wants a headband to match his daddy's, so I figured I could always turn it into that.


Well, I'm up to the 2nd CC tier in the sock. I am loving it, and hoping that it's going to work out. I picked orange and a stripey green, cause that's pretty much all they had besides purples and pinks. The cast on and the toe were super hard because I kept pulling the yarn, which made the stitches way too tight to knit them on the 1's. I thought about switching to #2's, but figured that would be a major mistake, since I am getting 20 stitches /inch with this yarn and 1's. That's right...way bigger than gauge for this pattern. However, what I've got so far is fitting perfectly. Once I stopped stretching the yarn to knit it, and started knitting it slack it was much easier and obviously made for a much softer feel.I'm going to keep up with the Fixation until I finish the heel and see how the fit is. I'm kind of stoked that I went and got this stuff, because not only is the elastic seeming to make these fit better, but the cotton will enable me to wear them in the summer without worrying about the heat, and I can throw them in the washer (gasp!) with the rest of my clothes.

Here's hoping that this works, cause I really want a pair of these socks.

A few more modifications

So, I don't have time to post a picture right now, but I will soon. I finished the 11 CC tiers on the leg portion of the sock, but when I tried it on, the last 2 tiers were so tight that I could barely pull the socks over the upper part of my calf muscle. So, I took those two tiers out and I am going to increase them to be 8 stitch tiers. I will try the sock on again, but from trying it on this morning, I think I am going to put 12 or 13 CC tiers (so 1 or 2 more than the pattern calls for) on the leg portion because I want them to go all the way to my knee.
I got gauge with this yarn, but I guess it must not be as stretchy as the koigu. The only modifications I have made so far were to add an extra CC tier to the foot portion so that it would fit. I can get the socks on but they are really tight and I've got to be careful pulling them off. I thought about adjusting it so that they were bigger, but I kind of like the tightness to them because they keep the shape of my leg, thus looking much sexier than if they were bulkier, so I guess it's worth them being a pain in the ass to get on and off.
I am meeting some people at a coffee shop this afternoon to work on these, so I will post a pic when I get back.

they're looking good!

I, on the other hand, am not ;)
excuse the silly late-night web cam pic (the colors look a little washed out)

backwards knitting?

so the knitting goddess blessed me yesterday with a quick lesson in backwards knitting from the lys-owner friend of mine. The lack of turning this piece is wonderful and changing the whole way I'm knitting it 'cause it's not all messy in the middle and it's so easy to do once you practice.
for those wanting to use magic loop or two circulars, this may allow for that
I'm sticking with dpns though, 'cause I don't have any small enough circulars and can't afford new addis right now :(
good luck!

I'm having mixed feelings about this sock. I'm not happy with some things, but these are all things I can fix after finishing the sock. (see the holes by the heel? THOSE) and please ignore how funky my foot looks in the pic, it's squished at a funny angle trying to show off the sock and get a decent pic. I am starting my first leg increase tier. I am starting it early for a few reasons. The main ones being I'm short and have fat legs. Another is that it's a bit difficult getting my heel into the sock as it doesn't stretch much, and I'm afraid if I wait longer to start my increases, it'll become imposable to get my heel in there (and I don't want to have to do as much fudging to the pattern as Twin). It makes sense to me.

ideas to resolve my sock VS foot fit issue

I always make my socks cuff down with a heel flap (stare into my eyes--respect the magic that is the flap/heel turn/gusset--ohmmmmmm) that I can add a few extra rows if I need them for my extra tall...uh, what the heck is the distance from the floor to my ankle bone called? That's not the instep, is it? Anyway, this short row heel just isn't working for me.

Has anyone done a heel flap on a toe up sock? I haven't really thought through the process so I'm not sure how it would incorporate into this sock pattern. If I'm going to try another "something different," I'd kind of like to know ahead of time whether it'll give me the extra room I need.

My other option is to revise the whole pattern (instead of just the toe) into cuff down and start over. Which I think I'm going to go ahead and give that a shot with my second sock today, leaving the first on the holders for the moment.

But if I am completely changing the contruction, do I have to leave the KAL? *sob*

Ruh Roh

The knitting of the socks is moving along very slowly since I'm working on a bazillion other things (including some major reworking of my personal shape).

Anyway, I added an extra MC and CC tier to the foot to make sure it would fit my size 8.5-9 feet. The foot is so long and narrow, it makes me giggle. Rather than giggling, I should have been cocking an eyebrow and trying to figure out how this was going to work. My foot doesn't look that long and it's definitely not narrow. But I just couldn't make it past the giggles.

I managed my way through the short row heel (had actually reached that point before my first/last post), in spite of the errors in stitch count in the pattern (Y'all noticed the errors, didn't you? You DID, right? Maybe I'm just too stupid to wield pointy stitcks. *sob*).

So, I'm three CC tiers above the heel when it suddenly occurs to me that I should try this (Dachshund) puppy on. Especially since I have never used short row heels before. Uh. I have a slight problem.

New to the Group

My name is Samantha and I blog over at SnB Lafayette. I am knitting my socks in Louet Gams in lilac and the lilac and white twist. I have 2 skeins of each because I am not making knee socks.

I started my socks yesterday in a entrelac along with some friends and I am three tiers in. I will post a picture when I make a bit more progress and it actually looks like something.

[Edited to add: a photo]

From blue to amber waves...

I finally started to swatch today for the socks. This is the first time I have actually bothered to swatch. I also changed the yarn I'm using which may explain why I am a-swatching at all.

(Having reread the above I think I may have been reading a little too much Seuss lately.)

One colour is amber by Blue Moon Fibers and it'll be the main colour. Consequently I have a little time to choose the contrast colour; maybe a yellow, maybe not.

All those who have posted have lovely socks in progress!***CV

wheeeeeeee!

I decided to ditch the tutorial and go ahead and cast on. So far so good, a little slow going but I'm sure my speed will pick up soon. Here is a pic with my little helper.

how weird is this?

i am using the wrong size yarn and my socks looks like they are going to pretty much fit. they won't be those pretty slim things in the picture, they are more like chunky house socks but they fit so far, including the heel. and guess what else? i was at imagiknit today buying yarn for something else and i heard the staff there talking about how the cast on these socks last night!

How's everyone doing?

Saucer? Did you finish that tutorial to your liking? I'm really excited for you to cast-on. Do you love entrelac? Which yarn did you get?
Brainy? Did you cast-on yet?
chittavrtti...Do you have lots of projects going on still? Are you getting close? I can't wait to see your yarn in action.
tansy? punky? sugar? I know you didn't plan on starting till april. did you decide on yarns yet?

Now wait a minute, Mr. Socks Fox

Good morning:) I thought I would post a little more information about my socks since I was a bit brief the other night. I have a modeled foot photo too -- just for Bex! I have to say, that I was a bit mistaken when I tried them on the other day and stated that they fit size 7 just fine, they are actually a bit too big for me. They fit fine in the circumference, but they are long of toe (which I just discovered that you can't really see in this photo but maybe you can see the heel looks a bit baggy...).

Anyway, here are the specs:
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM colors P137 and 2170 (I think those are the color numbers they are hard to read). I have 2 skeins of each.
Needles: Clover 5 inch size 1
Gauge: About 18 stitches per 2 inches in SS in the round.
Heel to Toe Measurement: 9.25 inches unstretched.
Pattern Mods: None thus far, I even used the Middle East wrap CO from the magazine. I'm not going to knit knee highs though. I think I'm going to knit until I run out of the first ball of the main color and that is how high they will be. (I just have to predict how much I will need to save for the top cuff...)
What I like: I really like the whole entrelac process. I thought it would take forever, but it goes really quickly and it is so addictive! I also like this Knit-along:)
What I don't like: I wish the P2tog and SSK stitches looked a little neater. My contrasting color has a tendency to show through and I keep poking at it to hide a bit more underneath. Is that happening with anyone else?

Much Better...

(please ignore my pajama pants and pasty pale ankle)

WOOHOO!!! I am almost back to where I was before the frogging (I was done with the next CC tier). Adding in the extra CC tier in the foot was exactly what my Entrelac sock needed. Last night I sat down during Lost and I knit my heel. Maybe now that I've re-knit that I'll feel like I'm making progress on this again.

Just a quick little thing

So, I just read that Eunny Jang is the new editor of Interweave Knits. Awesome.

Another Introduction

Hi! I'm Tamara from the blog, Spincerely yours. I just wanted to post a quick photo tonight. I know I should really wait until the morning when I'm not so tired and the light is better, but I think that everyday and then I miss my chance to write. This is my first entrelac project and I'm having a lot of fun! I was just recently on vacation so I treated myself to some Koigu from A Mano Yarn Center in LA (I haven't found any in CT yet). I really like knitting with it -- it has a unique twist and I love the variations in the colors.

Anyway -- as to the sizing -- I think mine is coming out just right for me although that is complete unintentional. I tried it on tonight and it fits well. I was not expecting this as I wear size 7 shoes. Since this pattern only has one size I was just going with it (and I have a sister with size 8 feet). They are a little lumpy inside, but I guess when we walk it will be like getting a little massage with each step and maybe they will smooth out a bit with blocking and washing.

I love reading what everyone has to say and looking at all the colors and yarns that everyone is knitting with. I can't wait to see more!

this isn't good - stuck on the tutorial

yeah. so I am just about to pack it in for the night but I am having a hard time with the tutorial. I have gotten all the way through fig. 3 but can't get the top triangles Right side facing for fig 4. I am doing the tutorials with bigger needles and a sport weight yarn to make it a little easier but alas, I have done this step 3 times now and it turns out funny every time.

So I am going to sleep on it and see if I can figure it out tomorrow.

I did go to the yarn store though, and the nice lady knew EXACTLY what I was talking about and pulled out the pattern right away. I picked out this beautiful sherbet green and grey combo, but they didn't have enough balls of the sherbet green so instead I chose a turquoise and a tan, sort of like in the pictures on the pattern.

I'll take pics tomorrow and post them so y'all can see what I'm talking about.

thus far

i LOVE the pictures ya'll have posted. i am going to the business mtng at my daughter's school tonight and i am going to sit in the back and knit my brains out.

so, here is my disclaimer: i have never made a pair of socks before, much less done entrelac. i learned to knit about 9 months ago and i am totally addicted. also, i do not have the correct yarn. i wanted something bigger so i could "see" what i was doing. does that make sense? so when these are done i am either going to make them into mucklucks or send them to my giant cousin. he knits too and i bet he would love them. then, when i'm done mucking about on these, i will try some for reals. and bex - i am with you on the mistakes. i am only taking out the most egregious ones. this is so great. thanks for organizing it!

The little bit...

So, here are some pictures of where I'm at so far. It's not much yet, but I figured that I love looking at other people's pictures, so maybe someone wants to look at mine. The color of these pictures sucks. It makes it look like I'm knitting blue and yellow socks. arg. In real life, the "yellow" color resembles split pea soup, and the "blue" is mostly grey. You can't even notice that there is blue in it unless you hold it under a bright light. Okay...so that's my color disclaimer.

The yarn I'm using is only 3-ply (the vintage stuff that I found at the Mill End), but I was able to get gauge with it on the US #1's, so I figured I'd go with it. As you can see, it's a little bit "see through" because the yarn is so small, but I actually kind of like it. The only thing that bugs me a bit is that my first couple of tiers of the entrelac are a bit loose around the edges and it really shows with this yarn more than it would with something a bit thicker.
I am pretty stoked about that knitty Magic Cast-on because it made the seam in the sock really rounded and smooth. It fits well over my toes. I'm sure that the Middle East cast-on would have done the same thing, but those directions in the IK weren't working for me and I'm nothing without a tutorial!!I'm pretty worried about this sock being long enough, after having read about other people's struggles with that. Most of what I have read has says that the sock is not fitting a size 7 foot. I'm 8.5, so I'm pretty sure that I'm going to have to throw in 7 CC tiers or so. I'm up to 3 now and it's not even fitting to the halfway point on my foot.
I've got a bunch of really subtle mistakes. You know, places where in the past I would have ripped this thing out a million times to make it perfect. However, in yoga we are working on how everything we do resembles life, and in my life...I never see anything perfect, so I am on a mission with these socks not to frogg them. Every project that I have ever done has been ripped out and repeated a million times and I am deciding with this one that it's harder and more challenging for me to keep going than to rip it out and re-do it. So, I'm up for the challenge and we'll see what happens. I know that the second sock is going to be better than the first. It wouldn't matter how many times I frogged the first one. Still, the second one would be better. So, I'm going to accept that and keep going. What mistakes I have now will not be noticeable to anyone but myself (and possibly those of you who are doing this KAL). I'm breathing through that. hehe. This is going to be amazing. I've only done 3 CC tiers so far, and I can already see a drastic improvement in my entrelac skills. The edges are getting tighter and more defined. The stitches are floating better. I kind of like that I will be able to look at these socks and see my progress and growth in entrelac.

Okay...no more of this novel. I will be back!

An Introduction

I just joined the KAL, so I figured I should introduce myself to all of you, and say thanks to Shannon(Twinsanity) for linking me here. I am Jackie and I am also an entrelac/garterlac junkie (but I'm not as bad as Twin....LOL)

I was just past the heel on my sock, but it turned out to be too snug and I could barely get my foot into it. After 5 CC tiers, the foot of my sock was just too short. I wear a size 7 shoe, so even though my gauge was spot on on my swatch, it just didn't turn out properly. So, This morning, I finally frogged down to just before the heel. I am going to add another set of tiers and then do my heel. I took this pic just after the frogging. I am using Knitpicks Gloss yarn in burgundy and sarengetti, and KP size 1 dpn's.

My Obsession

As soon as I saw these socks in my new IK, the rest of the magazine disappeared. Hello, my name is Shannon F. and I am obsessed with entrelac and "garterlac" (entrelac done in garter stitch). Witness here and here (hee hee--it's not really a lampshade) and even the last paragraph here for the threat of intervention.

So. Of course, I HAD to make these socks.

Being on a tight budget these days, I ordered some Essential from knitpicks.com in Pine and Fawn. Only two balls of each because I don't like long socks. Not sure about the tassle thing either.

I couldn't wait for my package to arrive so I could cast on. The big day was last week.

Oh. My. I am used to doing socks cuff down, two at a time on two circs. What the heck is a Middle East-wrap cast on??? "See Glossary, page 122" Oh. OK. Uh. What the heck is a Middle East-wrap? Translation, please? "Knit across stitches on upper needle." Uh. Which end is up?

And it went downhill from there. Lessons learned so far--

• the Easy Toe (found at knitty.com) really IS easy.
• I don't like the shape of the easy toe (though starting with 8 stitches out of 72 was probably a bad idea)
• AH HA!! toe up socks do not necessarily need to start at the tip of the toe (yes, it IS a tad pointy, I may ungraft and tink back a couple decrease rows)

• it's impossible to knit these two at a time on two circs
• it's almost impossible to knit these one at a time on two circs
• it's easier just to back down and break out the DPNs
• slipping the first stitch on the free edge (as opposed to the decrease side) of each unit makes it a breeze to pick up your stitches (though sometimes, such as the first unit of a tier, you will have one less slipped stitch than you need...but it's not hard to fudge another)
• if you start and frog twenty-something times, each time will get a little easier and will (usually) produce an even better result

at a point where I still suffered from the delusion I could knit these on 2 circs

another of the earlier (post toe freak out, pre-final toe solution) attempts

help with cc, please

i don't understand the directions for beginning with cc. so you pick up and knit 6 stitches along the selvedge edge. i can do that. but then it says to purl 5 and then p2tog - wouldn't that require 7 stitches total? and if each time i am decreasing by p2tog, then how can i repeat the purl 5 part each time? it says all the stitches will be "decd" away. i am confused.

hemming and hawing

I am still trying to decide if I am going to order yarn or just pack up my kids and head to the yarn store. I like the knitpicks merino fingering weight yarn, but I would have to dye it myself and I have never been satisfied with kool aid dyeing and am kind of bored with that.

looks like the yarn store.

I plan to practice on the tutorial tonight a bit.

I cast on last night!!!

Whooopeee! That felt so good. I didn't get that far, just into the increasing rows and whatnot, but it felt so good to get these on the needles. The middle east cast on instructions in the IK glossary suck, so I found a couple of tutorials on the web that are fantastic and you can find them in the links if you need them.
I actually used the knitty magic cast-on...I guess because I had to be contrary, but it ended up looking great so I just left it at that. I am 98% sure that the ME cast on is also called the Figure 8 cast on, so you can also find a tutorial for that from Hello Yarn.

As soon as I get a couple tiers done I will post pictures.

accckkk

it took me a while to find a description of the me cast on. i found it as the turkish co. same, same i think. i am on inc rnd 4!!! yeah! i love knitting for many reasons and one of them is this: if you will just follow the directions, it comes out fine. that's a tough one for me, i always want to protest, "but that doesn't make any freaking sense." and yet it does, in the end.

here's hoping i don't suck

ready to try...

I AM READY!!

I got my yarn and the pattern is here: I am counting on tonight...
yippee!

In like Flynn

I have my yarn too!

I am however in the midst of wrapping other stuff up. It'll be interesting how much takes a dive into the frog pond. At any rate, the yarn that I am using is from Fearless Fibers, she has an Etsy site and is local to Oregon. The skeins I have are a powder lemon yellow and a summer sky blue. This will be the first time I've done sox toe up. The cast on looks ... ummmm .... somewhat intimidating.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained and how cool will these be when they are finally done?! ***CV

Special Yarn

So, I was at the Mill End Store the other day looking for some fat quarters. I decided to mess around in the yarn section for a little while. They've got the stuff you'd find at JoAnns, but then there is always something special back in the corner, like banana leaf fiber yarn, etc... I thought I'd see what they had for sock yarn and I found these spools of 2-ply and 3-ply yarn for 3.20. It looked like a great deal, and it was 100% wool.


I needed to know if there was enough yardage for the Entrelac Socks though, so I asked the store woman. She told me that she had no idea about the yardage and that these spools had been spun in the 60's when the Mill End was actually a spinning/textile mill. How awesome. So, I'm going to make the socks with this yarn.
There was a nice cream color, but I talked myself out of it and instead chose an olive-type green and a blue-grey color that just really didn't look like they should ever go together. I have faith in the beauty of these socks though, and I think that they will be able to bring these two colors together in splendid glory!! haha